Criminal procedure act, 1967

• Enactment Date: 13 June 1967
• Act Number: 12

Number 12 of 1967
CRIMINAL PROCEDURE ACT, 1967
ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS
PART I
Preliminary
Section 1. Short title. 2. Commencement. 3. Repeals. 4. Prosecutor.
PART II
Preliminary Examination of Indictable Offences in the District Court
5. Procedure. 6. Documents to be served on accused. 7. Preliminary examination. 8. Decision on preliminary examination. 9. Witness order. 10. Witness summons. 11. Additional documents. 12. Waiver by accused of preliminary examination. 13. Procedure where accused pleads guilty in District Court to indictable offence. 14. Further power to take depositions. 15. Deposition as evidence. 16. Power to exclude public. 17. Prohibition of publication of proceedings. 18. Inclusion of further counts in indictment. 19. Amendment of Criminal Justice Act, 1951, and Criminal Justice (Legal Aid) Act, 1962. 20. Consent of Attorney General.
PART III
Remand
21. Power to remand. 22. Remand in custody or on bail by the District Court. 23. Form of recognisance. 24. Period of remand. 25. Remand to custody of Garda Síochána. 26. Acceptance of deposit in lieu of sureties. 27. Sufficiency of bailsmen. 28. Provisions as to admission to bail. 29. Bail in case of treason, murder and certain other offences. 30. Endorsement on warrants as to release on bail. 31. Release on bail in certain cases by members of Garda Síochána. 32. Proceedings to estreat recognisance. 33. Arrest of accused about to abscond.
PART IV
Miscellaneous
34. Reference of question of law to Supreme Court. 35. Amendment of section 52 of Extradition Act, 1965. 36. Explanation of “imprisonment” in Part III of Extradition Act, 1965. 37. Offences under the law of Scotland. 38. Offences under the laws of the Channel Islands.
SCHEDULE
Enactments Repealed
Acts Referred to Criminal Justice Act, 1951 1951, No. 2 Treason Act, 1939 1939, No. 10 Geneva Conventions Act, 1962 1962, No. 11 Wireless Telegraphy Act, 1926 1926, No. 45 Criminal Justice (Legal Aid) Act, 1962 1962, No. 12 Offences Against the State Act, 1939 1939, No. 13 Defence Act, 1954 1954, No. 18 Official Secrets Act, 1963 1963, No. 1 Extradition Act, 1965 1965, No. 17
Number 12 of 1967
CRIMINAL PROCEDURE ACT, 1967
AN ACT TO ESTABLISH A NEW PROCEDURE FOR THE PRELIMINARY EXAMINATION OF INDICTABLE OFFENCES AND FOR THIS AND OTHER PURPOSES TO AMEND CRIMINAL LAW AND ADMINISTRATION. [13th June, 1967]
BE IT ENACTED BY THE OIREACHTAS AS FOLLOWS:—
PART I Preliminary
	Short title.	1.—This Act may be cited as the Criminal Procedure Act, 1967.
	Commencement.	2.—Section 3 and Parts II and III shall come into operation on such day as the Minister for Justice by order appoints.
	Repeals.	3.—Each of the enactments mentioned in the Schedule is hereby repealed to the extent specified in the third column.
	Prosecutor.	4.—In this Act “the prosecutor”, in relation to an offence, means the person by whom the offence is prosecuted, being the Attorney General, a person prosecuting at the suit of the Attorney General or a person authorised by law to prosecute.
PART II Preliminary Examination of Indictable Offences in the District Court
	Procedure.	5.—(1) Where an accused person is before the District Court charged with an indictable offence then, unless the case is being tried summarily or the accused pleads guilty, the justice shall conduct a preliminary examination of the charge in accordance with the provisions of this Part.
	(2) References in any enactment to the preliminary investigation of an indictable offence shall be construed as references to the procedure set out in this Part.
	Documents to be served on accused.	6.—(1) The prosecutor shall cause the following documents to be served on the accused—
	(a) a statement of the charges against him,
	(b) a copy of any sworn information in writing upon which the proceedings were initiated,
	(c) a list of the witnesses whom it is proposed to call at the trial,
	(d) a statement of the evidence that is to be given by each of them, and
	(e) a list of exhibits (if any).
	(2) Copies of the documents shall also be furnished to the Court.
	(3) The accused shall have the right to inspect all exhibits.
	(4) The prosecutor may cause to be served on the accused and furnished to the Court a further statement of the evidence to be given by any witness a statement of whose evidence has already been supplied.
	Preliminary examination.	7.—(1) The justice shall consider the documents and exhibits, any deposition or statement taken in accordance with this section and any submissions that may be made by or on behalf of the prosecutor or the accused.
	(2) The prosecutor and the accused shall each be entitled to give evidence on sworn deposition and also to require the attendance before the justice of any person, whether included in the supplied list of witnesses or not, and to examine him by way of sworn deposition.
	(3) A witness under subsection (2) may be cross-examined and re-examined on his evidence. His deposition shall be taken down in writing, read over to him and signed by him and by the justice.
	(4) (a) The justice shall ask the accused if he has anything to say in answer to the charge. The justice shall caution the accused that he is not obliged to say anything unless he wishes to do so and that whatever he does say will be taken down in writing and, if he is sent forward for trial, may be given in evidence at his trial.
	(b) Whatever the accused says in answer to the justice's question and caution shall be taken down in writing and read over to him and shall be signed by the justice.
	(c) The accused's statement, appearing to be so signed, may be given in evidence at his trial without further proof unless it is proved that it was not signed by the justice by whom it purports to have been signed.
	(d) Nothing in this subsection shall prevent the prosecutor from giving in evidence any confession, or other statement made at any time by the accused, which is admissible by law as evidence against the accused.
	Decision on preliminary examination.	8.—(1) If the justice is of opinion that there is a sufficient case to put the accused on trial for the offence with which he has been charged, he shall send him forward for trial.
	(2) If the justice is of opinion that there is a sufficient case to put the accused on trial for some indictable offence other than that charged, he shall cause him to be charged with that offence, proceed in accordance with section 7 (4), which shall have effect with the omission of the words “if he is sent forward for trial” in paragraph (a), and, unless section 13 applies, send him forward for trial.
	(3) Subsections (1) and (2) are subject to the provisions of section 2 of the Criminal Justice Act, 1951 , which relates to minor offences.
	(4) If the justice is of opinion that a summary offence only is disclosed, and the Attorney General consents, he shall cause the accused to be charged with the summary offence and deal with the case accordingly.
	(5) If none of the foregoing provisions applies, the justice shall order the accused to be discharged as to the offence under examination.
	(6) An order of a justice sending an accused person forward for trial shall be in writing signed by the justice.
	Witness order.	9.—(1) The justice shall, if he decides to send the accused forward for trial, make an order (in this section referred to as a witness order) in respect of each person a statement of whose evidence has been supplied or whose deposition has been taken under this Part requiring him to attend and give evidence before the court by which the accused is to be tried and to produce any document or thing specified in the order.
	(2) A person who without just excuse disobeys a witness order requiring him to attend before any court shall be guilty of contempt of that court.
	(3) If, on the application of the Attorney General or an accused person, the justice is satisfied by evidence on oath that a particular person is unlikely to comply with a witness order, the justice may bind him by recognisance to appear at the trial and if he refuses to be so bound the justice may by warrant commit him to custody until the trial or until he enters into the recognisance; and the justice shall have the same powers for enforcing the attendance of such person before him for the purposes of this subsection as the District Court has in relation to witnesses in criminal proceedings.
	Witness summons.	10.—(1) A summons (in this section referred to as a witness summons) may, on the application of the Attorney General or an accused person, be issued out of the court to which the accused has been sent forward for trial requiring the person to whom it is directed to attend before the trial court and give evidence at the trial and to produce any document or thing specified in thesummons, unless the court is satisfied that such person cannot give any material evidence or, as the case may be, produce any document or thing likely to be material evidence.
	(2) A person who without just excuse disobeys a witness summons shall be guilty of contempt of the court out of which the summons was issued.
	(3) This section is without prejudice to any other powers for enforcing the attendance of witnesses at the trial.
	Additional documents.	11.—(1) Where the accused has been sent forward for trial the Attorney...